A variety of software modeling tools exists to assist in planning for and extraction of hydrocarbons from underground reservoirs. For example, a geologist or reservoir engineer may use a geocellular model of the underground formation to make decisions regarding hydrocarbon well placement. The geocellular model is a physics-based model, simulating fluid movement through pores in the rock of the formation. Geocellular models require extensive computing capability to create, modify if necessary, and “run” the model to simulate fluid movement. The time step of each simulation run may be rather large, as the primary purpose of the geocellular model is to make long term planning decisions, and thus such simulations may predict movement of hydrocarbons within the formations years in advance. A geocellular model is too large and cumbersome to make accurate estimates of the production of a single hydrocarbon well over a short period of time (e.g., 180 days or less).
With respect to a single hydrocarbon well, other physics-based models are available. For example, a completions engineer may model hydrocarbon flow from the hydrocarbon well as a series of pressure drops between the fractured formation and the production flow line (e.g., perforation size and number, inside diameter of tubing string through which the hydrocarbons will flow, length of the tubing string). However, while such modeling may be useful in evaluating fracture scenarios, the pressure drop modeling is limited in its ability to test or simulate other scenarios related to production.